A New Tiny Herb Garden for Miss Jolie

Dear Readers,

I am currently typing with dirt under my fingernails and that feels really really good. As you know I moved out of my house and garden in December. Today I realized I have not gardened since last October. And, that is just way too long for this dirt loving plant nerd earth mama. Tragic, I'd say. This morning I was feeling quite discouraged about my knee injury and I knew that getting my hands in some soil was just what I needed to feed my soul.

Behind my new apartment is a small brick lined raised bed, just laying empty. It is not in the most optimal spot as it is situated on the west side of my apartment getting shade from my apartment to the east and a large established Doug Fir tree to the south. I had been pondering over what to do with this tiny area for months. Should I try to plant some vegetables more tolerant of shade like lettuce and salad greens, perhaps a cutting flower garden, some strawberries? I finally settled on an herb garden. I can't live without herbs. For many years I had my own large garden bursting with every culinary herb imaginable. I was not in the habit of purchasing herbs when I went grocery shopping. As I was cooking, I would just walk into my garden and snip what I needed for that meal. I am ready for that again.

With my injured knee, the thought of gardening appeared a challenge. However, I knew it's what I needed today. And, there was a break in the rain. So I propped myself up on a milk crate so that I was not bending or bearing any weight on my injured knee. It was an interesting way to garden that I'm not accustomed to, but it worked for this tiny garden. I weeded, added my custom vegan fertilizer blend, and added a bag of compost. I installed a trellis up against the wall of my garden shed, which will serve as support to the 3 types of peas I planted. Since I'm getting such a late start planting peas, in addition to seeds, I planted a couple of plants acquired from my friend Laura's nursery "Mostly Medicinals." I'm excited for these yellow podded purple flowered peas that are heirloom seeds from India. And thank you to Peggy for sharing her leftover pea seeds. It's just not Spring without peas!

I started my tiny herb garden with a few culinary basics: rosemary, oregano, parsley, sage, cilantro, chives and lavender. When the weather warms up I will add basil, tarragon, lemon verbena, and shiso. I'm also thinking I can't live without thyme, yerba buena, winter and summer savory, mint, lemon balm, chamomile, fennel, sweet bay, marjoram...did I mention I love herbs?

In Health,
Miss Jolie Ann

Planting Timing

Dear Friends,

It is a beautiful Spring evening in Portland. Typical Spring weather for us: upper 50's, black clouds, then sunbreaks, then rain, then sunny. All that was missing today was a little hail. Ha-Ha! If you live in Portland you know what I speak of. Right now it's a beautiful blue sky with fluffy white "cotton ball" clouds starting to be streaked with shades of pink. I have the window cracked open and there are birds splashing in the birdbath right outside my home office window. Today I saw butterflies in my yard for the first time this season. My plum trees seemed to have overnight dropped their flower blossoms and leafed out completely green. I mowed my lawn 2 weeks ago and it already needs it again. Seeds are germinating, birds are singing, weeds are growing leaps and bounds. Spring is bliss, all of it.

This month Portland has been blessed with 2 weekends of sunny days and record high temps in the 70's. This type of early warm weather just explodes our "spring-fever-gardening-bug." (And, I'm not talking about a pest!) Enthusiasm, energy, and new found hopefullness of the Spring is a wonderful thing, but if we are to be succesful in the garden we must also temper it with some reality. Sadly folks, April is too early for basil, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and peppers. (But, don't despair there are LOTS of other crops you CAN plant now). A lesson I learned early on is that every vegetable and herb has it's appropriate timing for planting. I learned this lesson by making lots of mistakes. Not everything goes in the ground at the same time. Each plant has it's own requirements for day length, soil temperature, and day & night air temperatures. There are cool season crops and hot season crops. In Portland we have a long growing season, but have short summers without a prolonged period of warm day & night temps necessary for a lot of heat loving crops to succeed. So, here are my tips for beginners and pro's on timing your veggie garden planting:

1. Plan! Plan! Plan! Educate yourself about what you want to grow and what grows well in your area and climate. Ask questions, talk to other gardeners.
2. Know your average last frost date! In Portland, our average last frost date is April 15th. Keep in mind this is an "average" not a "guarantee." Last year we had frost in Mid May and temps in the 40s conistently through the entire month of May. Watch the weather daily.
3. Plan for succession plantings of your crops rather than all at once. This way you will have an extended harvest and can plant warm season crops in the place you've harvested cool season crops.
4. Keep a gardening journal. This will help you document what works and what doesn't work. Reviewing my gardening journal from the previous year is an essential part of my current year planning.

The two resources that helped me the most when I was started out, and that I continue to use are (keep in mind these are resources specific to where I live):

The Maritime Northwest Gardening Guide produced by Seattle Tilth Fifth Printing 2005
Territorial Seed Company Catalog-get your free copy online at www.territorialseed.com

Also check out the Portland Nursery website for a free veggie planting calendar & veggie care-sheets: http://portlandnursery.com/plants/vegetables.shtml

And here's a quick summary of my garden planting. You'll notice many crops I plant every 2 weeks so that I have a succession of harvests throughout the season:

Late February: direct seed peas, arugula, radishes, scallions. Potato tubers, onion bunches, garlic cloves, raspberry canes & strawberry crowns. Plant seedlings-annual flowers (violets & pansies)
Mid March: direct seed spinach, chard, mustard greens, turnips, radishes, arugula, scallions, parsley.
Early April: direct seed mache, lettuce, carrots, radishes.
Mid April: direct seed beets, carrots, turnips, lettuce, arugula, radish, scallions, spinach, chard, mustard greens. Plant seedlings-kolarabi, florence fennel, annual flowers (alyssum, marigolds, petunias, snapdragons, calendula, lobelia)
Late April: direct seed beets, carrots, turnips, lettuce, radishes, arugula, spinach, chard, sunflowers, scarlett runner beans. Plant seedlings: artichokes, dill, chives, cilantro, tarragon, annual flowers (cosmos)
Mid May: direct seed pole & bush beans, beets, carrots, radishes, lettuce, basil & summer savory.
Late May: direct seed corn, bush beans, beets, carrots, radishes, lettuce. Plant seedlings: tomatoes, zucchini & summer squash, winter squash, pumpkins, basil, annual flowers (zinnia & cosmos)
Early June: Plant seedlings: cucumber, eggplant, peppers, gourds, basil, annual flowers

Happy Planting & Happy Spring!
In Health,
Miss Jolie Ann

What I'm Harvesting from My Garden--Mid August

After a very slow start to Spring & Summer, including lots of sketchy Portland weather--here's what I'm harvesting in my garden this week:

Cherry Tomatoes
Scarlett Runner Beans
Yellow Wax Beans
Romaine Lettuce
Carrots
Cucumbers
Yellow Patty Pan Squash
Zucchini
Strawberries
Raspberries
Blackberries
Herbs--Basil, Parsley, Cilantro, Dill, Tarragon, Sage, Fennel, Thyme, Mints, Oregano, Marjoram, Lemon Balm, Chevril

Pea Planting!

Hooray for the sunny weather, even if it is still cold. We have a brief respite from the rain and I am loving getting some work done in my garden. It's President's Day Weekend and the old saying is "Peas in by President's Day." I feel super blessed by the sunshine visiting in abundance the very weekend I wanted to get planting. Thanks again Mother Nature for your cooperation.


Tanya turned the compost bins and we harvested the first compost since we began 9 months ago. It was gorgeous rich black-brown. I've been composting for several years and it still amazes me every time I see the finished product. I spread lots of this fresh compost in my raised beds, particularly the bed that was plagued with pests and disease which completely destroyed my Autumn brassica crops.


I prepared two of my raised beds with a generous helping of Whitney Farm's Life Link Tomato & Vegetable Food. While preparing my beds for planting seeds I was careful not to disturb my overwintering red onions, yellow onions and garlic. Quite by surprise I discovered some overwintering carrots whose leafy tops were gone. I pulled 4 beautiful big carrots and ate them raw in a salad that same night. They were so sweet and quite an unexpected surprise!


This year I planted 2 varieties of Peas from Territorial Seed Company: Cascadia (snap) and Oregon Giant (snow). Check out Territorial Seed Company at: http://www.territorialseed.com/ This is the 2nd year I'm planting Cascadia, and Oregon Giant is something new for me. I coated my pea seeds well with an inoculant. Inoculant is supposed to enhance the nitrogen-fixing bacterial nodes on the plant roots (all in-line with the soil food workshop I recently attended!) I gave both pea plantings support by constructing bamboo & tree branch structures to climb. Along with my peas I planted radish seeds: Cherry Belle and Easter Egg.


Since planting 5 days ago we've had ample sunshine and a little bit of rain here and there. I'll expect to see radish seedlings poking up in another week, and peas the week after that. But for now I am ecstatic to gaze upon my minimal garden soaked in sunshine practically every day.

In Health,
Miss Jolie Ann